J’OUVERT: Zak Ové in Jungle Plaza

A large-scale public art installation transforms Jungle Plaza into an immersive landscape shaped by Afrofuturism, ancestral memory and collective ritual.

J’OUVERT presents two of British-Trinidadian artist Zak Ové’s most significant monumental works, reconfiguring the plaza as a site where history, mythology and speculative futures intersect. Anchoring the installation is The Mothership Connection (2022), a nearly 30-foot-tall totemic sculpture that merges African iconography with futuristic architectural forms. Drawing visual references from sources such as the Great Mosque of Djenné, Masonic geometry and Western civic arches, the structure is crowned by an enlarged female Mende mask. Both cultural monument and imagined vessel, the work gestures toward the global reach of the African diaspora, with its title referencing the influential Parliament-Funkadelic album and Ové’s ongoing engagement with music and collective consciousness.

Surrounding the central sculpture are forty graphite figures from The Invisible Man and the Masque of Blackness (2016). Standing just over six feet tall with arms raised in an open, declarative pose, the figures are based on an ebony sculpture given to Ové by his father, pioneering filmmaker Horace Ové. The series draws from a layered network of influences, including Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man, Renaissance masque traditions, and West African sculptural lineages, asserting presence, dignity and resilience within the public realm.

The presentation is accompanied by public programming throughout the run, including an artist talk, workshops, live music and sensorial experiences. An artist-led visit with Zak Ové takes place Friday, January 16, from 6 to 8:30 p.m., offering an early opportunity to experience the installation and its themes in dialogue with the artist.

J’OUVERT: Zak Ové in Jungle Plaza is on view from Thursday, January 15 through Monday, February 9, at Jungle Plaza in the Miami Design District. Image courtesy of the artist and NALA Projects.